Ministers have forced out the chair of the UK Competition and Markets Authority, as the government seeks to dial back regulation as part of Labour’s growth agenda.
The government will announce the departure of Marcus Bokkerink as chair of the regulator on Tuesday evening after an intervention by business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bokkerink, a former managing director at Boston Consulting Group, was appointed in 2022. CMA chairs can serve up to a five-year term.
The Department of Business and Trade made clear to Bokkerink on Monday evening that it felt the regulator was not sufficiently focused on growth, according to one government figure.
The government has appointed Doug Gurr as new interim chair of the CMA.
Gurr ran Amazon’s UK business during the company’s tussle with the CMA over its minority investment in Deliveroo, which the regulator ultimately approved in 2020. He is currently director of the Natural History Museum in London.
Bokkerink could not be immediately reached for comment. The CMA and business department did not immediately comment.
The competition regulator has been the focus of complaints to Labour ministers from business leaders, frustrated by what they see as an excessively interventionist approach to deals.
“We know that [the CMA’s] performance has not been good enough. There is a lot of frustration about this across the board from business,” said one government figure. “We are hearing unhappiness from everyone.”
Companies and their advisers will be closely watching to see how the appointment of Gurr may impact CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell’s approach at the regulator.
Cardell has been at pains in recent months to emphasise that the CMA is engaging more with companies and will be “participative” in its application of new powers in digital markets, which came into effect this month.
The CMA came under intense criticism from Microsoft in 2023 for its handling of the technology giant’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The agency ultimately approved the deal between the two US-based businesses after having initially sought to block it.
Tom Smith, competition lawyer at Geradin Partners and former CMA legal director, said Bokkerink’s replacement “came as a surprise” to competition lawyers.
“Government seems to be sending a strong signal, especially about merger control,” he added. “It is tempting to say that now would be a good time to file a merger at the CMA.”
In October last year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also took aim at the CMA in a speech to business leaders, telling them he would “make sure that every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, takes growth as seriously as this room does”.
Eleven members of the 33-member CMA merger panel, an independent group of experts that decides whether any deal that might threaten competition can proceed, are due to step down later this year. The business department is in charge of appointing their replacements.
One government figure said it was reasonable to assume that more of those incoming panel members would have a business background.
